Conveyor



March 16, 1.948. P. v. WHITNEY CONVEYOR Filed March 11, 1945' 2sheets-sheet 1 March 16, 1948. P. v. WHITNEY CONVEYOR Filed March 11,1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 //VENTO/ PAUL V. WHITNEY, 5,6% 777. um,

HTT'Y Patented Mar. 16, n1948 ooNvEYoP.

Paul V. Whitney, Columbus, Ohio, assigner, by mesne assignments, to TheJeffrey Manufacturing Company, .a corporation of Ohio Application March11, 1943, Serial No. 478,781

(Cl. ISS-158) 13 Claims. l

This invention relates to a conveyor of the type which has asubstantially totally enclosing working leg and also preferably atotally enclosing return leg.

An object of the invention is to provide improved chain and sprocketconveyor mechanism for a conveyor of the above-mentioned type- Anotherobject of my invention is to provide an improved conveyor including anenclosing casing through which there travels a chain having flightsmaking acute angles with respectto the axis of the chain and spacing thechain substantially centrally within the casing and away from its walls.

In carrying out the foregoing object it is another object of myinvention to form or cause the chain to include or carry successivenights each of which extends in the casing to one side of the chain, thenights being arranged on `op-r posite sides of the chain for spacing thechain substantially centrally within thc` housing and away from its-walls leaving the area in the `casing opposite each flightunobstructed, the flights lying in planes which form acute angles withrespect to the axis of the chain, the outer or leading edge of eachflight traveling through the casing in advance of the inner edgethereof.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved feedsection for a conveyor ofthe above-mentioned type which will preventdamage to the conveyor casing or the chain and flight conveyormechanism, particularly when material having large granular particles,such as coal, is conveyed by the conveyor.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novelfeatures and combinations being set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig, l is a side elevational view of the conveyor incorporating thefeatures of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view of the feed and foot sections ofthe conveyor;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking inthe direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 shows a modified form of feed section as compared with that ofFig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailed side view of a portion of the feedsection control mechanism of Fig. 2;

Figl 6 is a sectional view taken on the line of Fig. 5, looking in thedirection .of the arrows;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 1-1 of Fig. 4, looking inthe direction of the arrows, with parts Ibroken away;

Fig. 8 is a perspective View of one of the conveyor chain links andintegrally formed flights;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged combination planA and:

sectional View showing the shearing tool adjacent the opening of theWorking leg which is illustratedin section in Fig. 2 of the drawings;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged .sectional elevational view of the tool of Fig.9;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged sectional view of the tool adjacent the openingto the working leg iilustrating the modification of Fig. 4 of thedrawings; and

Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken on the line I2-l2 of Fig. ll, lookingin the direction of the; arrows.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, it will beseen that `the conveyor of my invention includes a casing 2E! comprisinga plurality of interconnected sections including a foot section 2l, afeed section 22, intermediate horizontal and Vertical or uprightsections which n are connected together by a curved section 23, and ahead section 24. The casing 20 providesl a generally L-shapedconstruction, and cas-ings of this general type lare well known in thisart and, as is well known, the principal portions of the casing areconstructed to provide a working or conveying leg or run 25 and areturnleg, or

run 26. Through the upright sections andy thereby as separate casings byvirtue of the fact that there are two spaced-apart partitions 28 and 29forming the bottom of the return run 26 and the top of the working run25, respectively,

Running through the working and return runs 25 and 26 of the casing 20is an endless chain conveyor mechanism 31| which is formed by aplurality of `chain links 3l having formed .thereon integral solidsubstantially rectangular `flights 32. If desired, the flights 32 may bemade skele ton type.

As illustrated in Fig. 8 of .the drawings, eachl link 3l is provided atone end with ,a male pivotal joint .33 and at the other end with .afemale Diwotal joint 34. `As clearly illustrated :in Fig, :Z of

the drawings, the chain conveyor mechanism 30 is formed by connectingsuccessive or alternate links 3|, with the flights 32 of the successivelinks extending forwardly and rearwardly on opposite sides of the axisof travel or, in other words, the longitudinal axis of the chain formedby the connecting links 3|, said links, of course, being connected bypivot pins which extend through the female pivotal joint 34 of one linkand the male pivotal joint 33 of the next link.

As illustrated particularly in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the direction oftravel of the conveyor chain 3| is as indicated by the arrow, andthrough the working leg 25 the rounded outer and leading edge 35 of eachflight 32 is positioned adjacent a wall of the housing forming saidworking leg 25 with which it may have sliding contact. For example,during the upward travel of the conveyor mechanism 30 through theupwardly extending portion of the working leg 25, a leading or outeredge 35 of one flight will be extending forwardly adjacent the outerwall of the working leg 25, and the next or succeeding flight will haveits leading or outer edge 35 extending rearwardly adjacent the innerwall of said working leg which is the partition 21.

The link 3| is spaced with respect to the side edges of the flight 32 atsubstantially the center of said flight, Consequently, each flightextends laterally on both sides of each link. Where in the claimsreference is made to lateral or side extensions of the flights, thisrefers to their ex# tension toward the side walls. As a consequence, thechain formed by links 3| will travel substantially along the centerlines of both the working run 25 and the return run 26 out of contactwith the casing, and this is helpful to prevent binding by compressionof material as the chain travels around the curved section 23.

It is further to be noted that each flight 32 only extends forwardly orrearwardly of the link 3|, but, as clearly illustrated in the drawings,each flight 32 preferably extends the full width of the link 3|, asviewed in Fig. 8 of the drawings, for example. That is, if the flight islaid on a fiat surface, as illustrated in Fig. 8, not only will thebottom or back of the link 3| contact the fiat surface, but so will thebottom or trailing edges of the flight 32.

The plane of the leading or top face of the f flight 32, which is theconveying face, preferably forms an acute angle with the axis of thelink 3|, and this plane is parallel to the pivotal axes of both the maleand female pivotal joints 33 and 34.

In the claims, the expressions forwardly or rearwardly, or theirequivalents, or derivatives, when used to define the chain or a chainlink and ight, shall be understood as referring tothe chain as viewed inthe upwardly extending portion of the working leg 25, or the equivalent,the front being at the right, as viewed in Fig, 1,

In view of the construction of said chain 3| and flight 32, as abovedescribed and as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, it isevident that successive flights not only extend alternately forwardlyand rearwardly of the axis of travel of the chain `3|, but that thetrailing or inner edges of successive nights 32 overlap each other andeach crosses the longitudinal axis of the chain 3|. As a consequence,the material whichis within the working leg does not form any straightcontinuous column, or in other words, it is impossible to move throughthe working leg 25 along a straight path except, of course,

as such may be provided by clearance between the edges of the ights andsaid working leg.

On the other hand, it is obvious that no flight 32 alone substantiallyiills the cross-sectional area of the working leg 25, or, in otherwords, each flight extends only partially across the working leg 25 andreturn leg 26, There is therefore a continuous but zigzag or sinuouspath of material which under normal conditions will extend throughoutthe working leg 25. As a consequence, the action of material beingconveyed in the working leg tends to force the flights against a forwardor rearward wall of said working leg. This makes a non-positive type ofconveyor mechanism 30, even though each of the flights is alone solid asdistinguished from the skeleton type. The advantages of this arrangementare that an extremely simplified construction is provided which underextreme conditions, will permit relative movement between the conveyormechanism 30 and the material being conveyed, comparable to thatafforded by the wellknown skeleton flight construction.

The conveyor mechanism 30 runs between a head sprocket 35 which isdriven by an electric motor 3l, both associated with the head section24, and a foot sprocket 38 associated with the foot section 2 l The headsection 24 also includes a discharge chamber 39 having a front dischargeopening 4B and also preferably includes a dribble plate 4| forming thebottom and rear portion of the chamber 39, which operates to gathermaterial and direct it to the discharge opening 40,

Attention is now directed particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawingsand to the construction of the feed section 22 and the foot section 2|.The feed section 22 is provided with a hopper or feed chamber 42 whichcommunicates with an opening in the top of the return run 26 as formedby said feed section 22. Material delivered to the hopper 42 will passthrough the bottom opening thereof and into the adjacent portion of thereturn run 26 by which it will be conveyed rearwardly along what is ashort working leg or feed section 43 though it is structurallyessentially a portion of the return run 26.

The material fed through the short working leg or feed section 43 by theconveyor mechanism 30 is delivered to a feed chamber 44 formed by therear end of the feed section 22 and the front portion of the footsection 2|, and it is obvious that material delivered to said feedchamber 44 will be fed by the working or conveying run of the conveyormechanism 30 into the working or conveying run 25 of the casing 20 byway of communicating opening 45,

It has been found in practice that some material, particularly largelumpy material, of which bituminous coal of the size of two inches orthereabout may be an example, ofttimes tends to bind particularlyadjacent the opening by which the short working leg or feed section 43communicates with the hopper 42, and a similar action has been found totake place where the working or conveyor run 25 communicates with thefeed charnber 44 by way of opening 45.

To overcome this objectionable characteristic and to prevent damageeither to the casing or to the endless conveyor mechanism 30, I haveprovided certain special construction now to be described.

It will be seen by reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings that the overallheight and consequently the cross-sectional area of the short feedsection 43 is greater than the height and consequently thecross-sectional area of the return run 2E. It will also be seen that theopening leading to this short feed section it from the hopper 2 iscontrolled by a `drum or roller d which is shown more in detail in Figs.5 and 6 of the drawings. The drum @S is mounted on a shaft il whichextends through elongated slots in the side walls of the hopper 32, andthe opposite ends thereof are received in slidable bearing blocks, oneof which is seen at 0,3. Said block @il is provided with an integralboit i9 which extends through an aperture in an angle bracket EQ mountedon a side plate of the hopper l2 and provided with an adjusting nut el.A coil spring e2 surrounds the bolt 49 and abuts the bracket 5t and thusurges the roller Lid to a minimum opening position of adjustment. t isobvious that as the flights 32 travel toward the roller t, said rolleris free to give and move upward against the action of the springs 52, orone of them, in case any large particle of material becomes lodgedbetween the upper edge of the flight 32 and said drum or roller 45.

Since the short fee section i3 has an appreciable height as comparedwith the height of the working or return runs 25 and 2e, any largeparticle of material which passes the roller [35 can pass freely throughsaid short feed section it and into the chamber The top portion of saidshort feed section is preferably provided at each side with a wearstripi, the bottom of which will be adjacent the upper edges 35 of theflights 32, and thus will keep the flights held down to the partition 28forming the bottom of said return run 2e as well as the bottom of theshort feed section 43.

The two aforementioned plates 2S and 2li lead to a transverselyextending casting Ell which extends transversely between the verticalside walls of the section 22 is bolted thereto by a transverselyextending bolt (see Fig. 9). The bottom oi the casting lie is providedwith a removable serrated or toothed tool or blade 55 which forms asharp serrated edge along the top of the opening d leading from the feedchamber ill into the working run f5. This sharp tool or blade lie willco-operate with the iiights 32 to shear ofi or lift up or push down anylarge particle of material which is caught between the flight 32 andsaid tool, thus preventing any damage to the conveyor mechanism or tothe casing by virtue of any large particles of material being caught asthe material is fed from the feed chamber lil into the working leg orrun 25.

In Fig. e of the drawings I have illustrated diff ferent mechanism forcontrolling the feed from the hopper d2 into the short feed section t3,as well as modified means for controlling the feed from the feed chamberlid through the opening i5 into .the working leg or run 25. In thismodification the hopper l2 instead of having the drum e6, has atransversely extending casting 58 adiacent the opening which leads fromthe hopper #.2 to the feed section 43 which at its lower edge carries anadjustable cut-off plate 59 which may be adjusted up and down by virtueof elongated slots therein and cti-operating nuts and bolts Eil. Behindthe cut-off plate 59 in the direction of travel of the material, is atransversely extending pivoted opening controlling plate Si which ispivoted to the casting 5S by a pin 62 (see particularly Fig. 'l of thedrawings).

Coiled about the pivot pin 62 is a biasing spring 53, one end of whichabuts the casting 58 and the other the reverse side of the plate 6l andurges the plate 6i to the full line position illustrated in Fig. 4 ofthe drawings, which is the extreme counterclockwise position to which itis permitted to move by virtue rof co-operating stop means between saidplate iii and the casting 56. It is evident that the plate 6l can pivotto relieve any pressure thereon created by a large lump of materialbeing caught between its bottom edge and a flight 32, and the maximumupward position of the plate 5l is illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 4of the drawings.

Also in Fig. 4 of the drawings I have illustrated a different form oftool as a substitute for the casting 5ft and tool or blade 55. This toolis in the form of a pivoted casting B (see particularly Figs. il and 12of the drawings), which is pivotally attached to a pin 65 extendingbetween the side walls of the section 22.

The bottom forward edge of the casting Se provides a transverse knifeedge @i5 which of course forms a cutting tool or blade to shear off anylarge particle of material caught between it and a flight 32 as thematerial passes through the opening de from the chamber IM into theworking leg` or run 25. The casting 65 is urged to the positionillustrated in Figs. 4 and 11 of the drawings by means of a pair of coilsprings El which are wrapped about the pin 65, with one end of eachabutting an interior web of the casting Sli and the other end abuttingthe plate 28. Itis obvious that the casting 'ri not only will shear offany large particles, as above described, but it is free to swing in acountercloclwise direction against the tension of the springs 61 torelieve the jammed condition. It is, of course, evident that the tool6d, E5 may be substituted for the tool 5d, 5d, etc., and vice versa.

To review briey the operation of the apparatus as disclosed,particularly in the form illustiated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, materialto be fed, such as granular material of which bituminous coal is oneillustration, will be delivered to the hopper 42 and will pass throughthe open bottom thereof into the opening formed in the return run 25 ofthe casing 2B. This material will then be conveyed rearwardly in thedirection of the arrow, through the short feed section @-3 by way of theopening provided between the hopper or feed chamber d2 and said feedsection d3, the size of which is controlled by the drum or roller d6.Should any material be caught between the upper edge 35 of a flight 32and the roller d5, the roller will be free to roll as well as to moveupwardly, which will have a crushing action on the material while at thesame time allowing it to move into the short feed section d3 from whichit will discharge into the feed chamber 44 as it passes over` the upperend of the casting 54. Said material will then flow by gravity in thefeed chamber M into the working run of the endless chain conveyormechanism 3S. Said conveyor mechanism 3@ then carries the materialforward to the opening l5 and into the working leg 25 and thencethroughout Vthe length of the working leg 25 to the discharge chamber 3Qwhere the material is discharged through the opening llt.

The tool or knife 55 adjacent the opening l5 will shear off any largeparticles that may become caught between said blade and a flight 32, orin some instances the blade 5S will merely depress the material as itmoves along, or in other instances the blade will catch the lower sideof the material and lift it up whence it will again gigw into the pathof said conveying mechanism The feed and foot sections above describedare claimed in my co-pending application S. N. 519,834, nled January 27,1944, for a Conveyer.

In any event it ls evident that binding between the nights 32 and thecasing is prevented at those points where binding normally occurs,particu larly with material which includes relatively large particleshaving the size, for example, of two inches or greater. As aconsequence, material of this type may be eniciently and safely handledwithout damaging the conveyor casing or endless chain conveyormechanism.

The operation of the apparatus as illustrated in Fig. 4 is essentiallythe same as that above described except, of course, the plate 6I insteadof rolling the material which tends to bind, merely swings under theinnuence thereof, while at the same time exerting pressure thereon,tending to push the material down or to reduce it.

The tool 64, 65 is similar to the tool 54, 56 except that it has theadditional feature of being pivoted to swing, and the cutting edgethereof is shown as a straight edge rather than a serrated or toothededge, though if desired it may also be serrated or toothed. The pivotalmovement of this tool 64, 65, of course, gives it added reliefcharacteristics since in case a very hard particle becomes caughtbetween a night and the tool edge, it will not be necessary to cut it,but the tool can release by swinging on its pivot.

It may also be pointed out that the novel conveyor mechanism presentsnights 32 each of which sweeps only part of the cross-sectional area ofthe working leg or run 25 as well as the return leg or run 26, but dueto the alternate arrangement of succeeding nights, substantially theentire cross-sectional area of each of said runs is swept by theconveyor. In other words, there is an overlapping of the trailing edgesof alternate o-r successive nights. The outer edges of the nights arepreferably leading and it is evi dent that successive nights lie inintersecting planes.

It is therefore evident that, in'ewed in one light, there is acontinuous sinuous or zig-zag path of material extending from the feedopening 45 of the working or conveying leg or run 25 to the dischargechamber 39 which will provide for some slippage between the conveyormechanism 30 and the material, under extreme conditions of overload.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in thedetails and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as denned by the claims hereto appended, and Itherefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction hereindisclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention. what Idesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A conveyor including a casing providing an enclosed upwardlyextending working leg, conveyor mechanism in said leg including a linkchain, nights attached to the links of said chain, successive nightsextending forwardly and rearwardly respectively of said chain during theupward travel thereby to maintain the chain out of contact with theforward and rearward walls of the working leg while traveling throughsaid upwardly extending working leg, said successive flights lying inintersecting planes each of which makes an acute angle with the axis ofthe chain during the upward travel, and each night having a leading edgeadjacent the casing and sloping downwardly therefrom while travelingthrough said working leg.

2. A conveyor including a casing providing an enclosed upwardlyextending working leg, conveyor mechanism in said leg including a linkchain, nights attached to the links of said chain, successive nightsextending forwardly and rearwardly respectively of said chain during theupward travel thereby to maintain the chain out of contact with theforward and rearward Walls of the working leg while traveling throughsaid upwardly extending working leg, and each night having a leadingedge adjacent the casing and sloping downwardly therefrom whiletraveling through said working leg.

3. A conveyor including acasing providing an enclosed upwardly extendingworking leg, conveyor mechanism in said leg including a link chain,nights attached to the links of said chain, successive nights extendingforwardly and rearwardly respectively of said chain during the upwardtravel thereby to maintain the chain out of contact with the forward andrearward walls of the casing while traveling through said upwardlyextending working leg, said successive flights lying in intersectingplanes each of which makes an acute angle with the axis of the chainduring the upward travel.

4. A conveyor including an upwardly extending enclosing working leg,conveyor mechanism extending through said leg including a link chain,solid nights on said chain, successive nights eX- tending forwardly andrearwardly respectively of said chain and in overlapping relation, eachnight lying in a single plane and extending only partially across saidworking leg and having a leading edge adjacent a wall of the casing ofsaid working leg and a trailing edge spaced therefrom.

5. A conveyor including an upwardly extending enclosing working leg,conveyor mechanism extending through said leg including a link chain,solid nights on said chain in overlapping relation, each night extendingonly partially across said leg, some of said nights extending forwardlyand others rearwardly through said working leg, to keep said chain outof contact With the walls thereof, and all of said nights lying inplanes whereby the action of the material being conveyed in the workingleg of the conveyor tends to force the nights against a wall of theworking leg.

6. A conveyor including a casing providing an enclosed upwardlyextending working leg, conveyor mechanism in said leg including a linkchain, nights attached to linksof said chain, each of said nights beingso constructed that the periphery thereof along one portion does notextend beyond said chain and therefore extends only partially across theworking leg, said nights being mounted on links of said chain so thateither an outer or a side edge of a night travels adjacent eachenclosing wall of said working leg and said chain is thereby guided bysaid nights substantially along the center line of said working leg andout of contact with all of the walls thereof, said nights havingsurfaces lying in planes making acute angles with the axes of saidlinks,

7. A conveyor including a casing providing an enclosed upwardlyextending working leg, conveyor mechanism in said leg including a linkchain, nights attached to links of said chain, each of said nights beingso constructed that the periphery thereof along one portion does notextend beyond said chain and therefore extends only partially across theworking leg, said flights being mounted on links of said chain and inplanes extending outwardly in the direction of travel of the chain sothat either an outer or a side edge of a iiight travels adjacent eachenclosing wall of said working leg and said chain is thereby guided bysaid flights substantially along the center line of said working leg andout of contact with all of the walls thereof.

8. A conveyor including a casing providing an enclosed upwardlyextending working leg, conveyor mechanism in said leg including a. linkchain, nights attached to links of said chain, each of said flightsbeing so constructed that the periphery thereof along one portion doesnot extend beyond said chain and therefore extends only partially acrossthe working leg, said flights being mounted on links of said chain sothat either an outer or a side edge of a flight travels adjacent eachenclosing wall of said working leg and said chain is thereby guided bysaid flights substantially along the center line of said working leg andout of contact with all of the walls thereof, the outer edges of saidflights leading the inner edges.

9. A conveyor including a casing providing an enclosed upwardlyextending working leg, con- Veyor mechanism in said leg including a linkchain, flights attached to the links of said chain, some of said flightsextending forwardly the others rearwardly of said chain during itsupward travel thereby to maintain the chain out of contact with theforward and rearward walls of said working leg while travelingtherethrough, none of said flights alone filling the cross-sectionalarea of the working leg, oppositely extending flights lying inintersecting planes each of which makes an acute angle with the axis ofthe chain during its upward travel, and each flight having a leadingedge adjacent the casing and sloping downwardly therefrom whiletraveling through said working leg.

10. A conveyor including a casing providing an enclosed upwardlyextending working leg, conveyor mechanism in said leg including a linkchain, flights attached to the links of said chain, some of said flightsextending forwardly the others rearwardly of said chain during itsupward travel thereby to maintain the chain out of contact with theforward and rearward walls of said working leg while travelingtherethrough, oppositely extending flights lying in intersecting planeseach of which makes an acute angle with the axis of the chain during itsupward travel, and each flight having a leading edge adjacent the casingand sloping downwardly therefrom while traveling through said workingleg.

11. A conveyor including a casing providing an enclosed upwardlyextending working leg, conveyor mechanism in said leg including a chainhaving links, flights on said links, said flights extending outwardly ofsaid chain laterally on opposite sides thereof as well as forwardly andrearwardly whereby the chain is held spaced from all the walls of saidworking leg, each of said ilights making an acute angle with said chain,with the outer edge thereof in a leading relation, each of said flightstraversing less than the entire cross-sectional area of said workingleg.

12. A conveyor including a casing providing an enclosed yupwardlyextending working leg, conveyor mechanism in said leg including a chainhaving links, flights on said links, said flights extending outwardly ofsaid chain laterally on opposite sides thereof as well as forwardly andrearwardly whereby the chain `is held spaced from all the Walls of saidworking leg, each of said flights making an acute angle with said chain,each of said flights traversing less than the entire cross-sectionalarea of said working leg.

13. A conveyor including a casing providing an enclosed upwardlyextending working leg, conveyor mechanism in said leg including a chainhaving links, flights on said links, said flights extending outwardly ofsaid chain laterally on opposite sides thereof as well as forwardly andrearwardly whereby the chain is held spaced from all the walls of saidworking leg, each of said flights making an acute angle with said chain.

PAUL V. WHITNEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 347,388 Shortsleeve Aug. 17, 1886645,946 Evans Mar. 27, 1900 831,658 Ericsson Sept. 25, 1906 865,837Weston Sept. 10, 1907 1,473,633 Lea Nov. 13, 1923 2,007,874 Redler July9, 1935 2,066,866 White Jan. 5, 1937 2,147,199 Hapman Feb. 14, 19392,226,989 Young Dec. 31, 1940 2,235,854 Sayers Mar. 25, 1941 2,252,460Sinden Aug. 12, 1941 2,290,077 Linden July 14, 1942 2,322,474 SayersJune 22, 1943

